Case Studies Archives - Page 3 of 4

Can rebranding transform your business? Consider this firm’s story

Regular readers of The Friedman File know that we feel strongly about the role thought leadership can play in carving out a strong market position. In this issue, we’re going behind the scenes with one architecture firm that has gone all-in with this strategy to see how it has transformed their business.

To appreciate the full picture, let’s go back five years. As healthcare architects, Array Architects (Philadelphia, PA) had been competing against some of the largest firms in the country, but they knew that trying to keep up with those firms on portfolio wasn’t a winning formula.

They also saw margins eroding coming out of the recession. Their clients, like many, were under market pressures requiring them to stretch their design and construction budgets. It was becoming a race to the bottom. Array was also facing an ownership transition challenge. Older partners were nearing […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-06-12T09:52:01-04:00February 2017|Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

What doesn’t kill a company makes it stronger: inside CannonDesign

Imagine that a senior manager in your firm and an external consultant were engaged in activities that did not just cross an ethical gray area — they were illegal.

It’s unthinkable. Yet it happened at 950-person A/E firm CannonDesign, and today, the firm is a better business partner because of it.

In this issue of The Friedman File, I’m sharing their remarkable story, one that I believe every A/E/C and environmental consulting firm can learn from. Whether your firm is involved with government contracting (as CannonDesign is) or not, read on to learn why transparency, communication and professional ethics must be baked into your firm’s culture — and how to make that happen.

In 2013, CannonDesign made headlines when they became publicly embroiled in a federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office into an external consultant they had worked with for 18 months in 2010 and […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-18T15:14:11-04:00December 2016|Business Strategy, Case Studies|

What your clients want you to know about your next shortlist presentation

Shortlist presentations could be called “stress list presentations” for the amount of angst they cause A/E/C and environmental consulting firms.

The timeframes are short and the preparation is long. What’s worse is that many firms that do the hard work required (opportunity research and selection, prepositioning, and thoughtful, client-centered proposal writing) to routinely get shortlisted still struggle to win the big show.

How can you improve your win rate? In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re going to the source: your clients. In the numerous loss debrief interviews I’ve conducted on behalf of my clients over the years, I’ve heard many recurring themes.

(If you’re in the fortunate position of having plenty of sole source work or master service agreements, this intel can also help you make a stronger case for your ideas, internally and with clients.)

What clients see

Firms that have rushed their preparation […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-18T15:13:49-04:00October 2016|Business Development, Case Studies|

If you’re tired of hearing about thought leadership, read this

In this issue of The Friedman File, we take a closer look at the changing world of marketing — and how to effectively seize the biggest opportunity that is sitting right in front of us.

The two most effective ways to engage a business audience are improving thought leadership and using a multichannel message strategy, according to marketing research firm Marketing Sherpa (Jacksonville, FL). In other words, having something valuable to say and saying it consistently via several methods.

These are proven strategies that firms in the A/E/C and environmental consulting industries are perfectly positioned to use to become visible leaders in their markets and better integrate their marketing and business development. Yet too many firms remain focused on parroting out projects won and people promoted instead. And, unless you’ve just hired the world’s foremost expert on healthcare design or geothermal engineering, clients aren’t listening […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-06-12T09:42:59-04:00August 2016|Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

A traditional firm breaks the mold with a bold new growth vision

Can you teach an old firm new tricks? One firm’s story…

Across the A/E/C and environmental consulting industries, firms that have been around a long time get lulled into doing things the way they’ve always done them. That’s not always the best path forward — even when it’s working well enough. In this issue of The Friedman File, I’m sharing the story of what happens when a firm that’s been around for 120 years starts thinking very differently about its future. (In the interest of full disclosure, the firm highlighted is a client of Friedman & Partners.)

Alden Research Laboratory (Holden, MA), a 100-person hydraulic modeling, flow testing, fisheries biology and engineering firm, has a clear market niche. Just 2 or 3 private firms in the U.S. do what they do and their workforce is comprised of highly specialized technical experts. For more than 100 […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-18T15:19:04-04:00June 2016|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Leadership|

One firm decided to change how they pursue work. Here’s what happened

One of my goals in sending The Friedman File is to spur new thinking about ideas and practices to move your firm forward. In this issue, I’m shining a spotlight on a firm that’s having great success in redesigning how they do something critical: pursue new work.

While the degree to which each A/E/C or environmental consulting firm participates in the competitive procurement process differs, this story has lessons for those that struggle with effective knowledge sharing, identifying and developing leaders, and cultivating a firm-wide business development (BD) culture. And that’s the majority of firms I’ve encountered in my years in this industry.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the firm highlighted is a client of Friedman & Partners, and we recruited the principal interviewed. I have no doubt that you’ll take away valuable learning from their experience.)

When it comes to pursuing new work, the […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-31T14:01:55-04:00February 2016|Business Development, Case Studies|

Culture matters: is yours ‘CYA’ or ’embrace the problem’?

It’s often been said that you can tell a lot about a person by how they handle adversity. In my experience, this is also true of A/E/C and environmental consulting firms. The strongest firms out there are those who are not only prepared to respond when things go wrong, but welcome and create the opportunity.

After years of seeing this play out, I know one the best things that you as a leader can do for your firm is to instill a culture of viewing problems as opportunities. In this issue of The Friedman File, I’m going to share two examples of how it’s done.

Perils of the CYA culture

Should a problem — such as a project going south — really be embraced?

In some firms, the mindset is that no news is good news, or what we don’t know won’t hurt us. Firms like this […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-12T14:28:56-04:00December 2015|Business Development, Case Studies|

What’s the secret sauce? The story of Nelson\Nygaard

Occasionally, I come across firms that cause me to scratch my head and ask, “How do they do that?” Such was the case last year at the A/E Advisors’ CEO Forum in Scottsdale. There, I met Paul Jewel of Nelson\Nygaard, an 80-person transportation planning firm based in San Francisco, with six other offices across the country.

Paul has the title of COO. His firm does not have, and has never had in its 25 years, a CEO. Nor does it have a Chairman of the Board. But those are just a few of the interesting quirks about this firm, which Jewel refers to as “a bunch of progressive planners who began with two women working out of a garage.” Since those humble beginnings, the firm has grown significantly and, says Jewel, is “changing the world one project at a time.” Before you dismiss Nelson\Nygaard […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-12T14:37:30-04:00October 2012|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

Developing the talent pipeline: a story of two progressive firms

How many A/E/C firms do you know that employ staff with titles such as “Director of First Impressions,” “Talent Scout,” and “Chief Human Potential Officer”? The past few years of economic Maalox moments have yielded numerous stories about staff cuts, reduced salaries and scaling back employee benefits. Yet a number of firms have quietly stuck to their strategic hiring plan by recruiting the best and brightest from colleges, struggling competitors and even thriving competitors.

These firms view tough times as an opportunity to strengthen their pipeline of future leaders and “swap out” old-school naysayers with can-do, out-of-the-box thinkers with non-traditional skill sets. Here are two:

Luckett & Farley: A Commitment to Key Talent Development

One such firm is Luckett & Farley, an 85-person A/E firm based in Louisville, Kentucky.

How important is it to be recruiting and searching for future leaders? President Ed Jerdonek says this: “It’s […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-12T14:44:56-04:00November 2011|Case Studies, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Winzler & Kelly: an evolving BD culture sows the seeds of success

As promised in my May The Friedman File, this issue includes an in-depth case study. We’re about to find out how one firm successfully evolved from a Rainmaker to a Seller-Doer culture, and is now establishing a firm-wide business development (BD) culture.

Winzler & Kelly (Santa Rosa, CA) is a 300-person multidisciplinary engineering and environmental consulting firm serving public- and private-sector clients in the western U.S. and the Pacific Rim. With offices in California, Oregon and Micronesia, the firm has grown 10–15% annually for 12 years and is ranked #217 among ENR’s top design firms.

During its first 50 years, Winzler & Kelly relied on a few rainmakers to bring in the majority of its new work. About 10 years ago, however, the leadership recognized that this model was impeding the firm’s growth. I had the pleasure to interview Marc Solomon, Vice President of Corporate […]

By Rich Friedman|2017-07-12T14:46:22-04:00July 2011|Business Development, Case Studies|